THE TUBES

IN BRISTOL

Still Crazy after all these years

Had a jaunt to Wurzle-land to see The Tubes play @ Bristol Carling Academy. The boys are now confirmed as playing Cardiff on December 1st but it wasn't enough to prevent a mini-Welsh invasion as, perhaps, a quarter of the audience were Welsh ... good to see some old gig faces in attendance and a fair-sized audience it was as well. We weren't let down.

Having played these shores and pretty much the same venues less than 11 months ago, we wondered if we were in for a repeat performance. We should have known better. Out went the Wild West theme, in came a vaudeville-style set. Out went more than half of the 2004 set, in came some oldies not played for over 20 years, a few old favourites and a couple of covers plus, of course, those classic songs and anthems that will forever form a Tubes set.

The acoustics were very good allowing The Tubes to showcase, for all of Fee's stage antics, just what great musicians they are. Every song was brilliantly played, add in some duelling guitars with Gary and Roger and a couple of fantastic Prairie drum solos and it was evident both the group and the crowd were loving it.

There was a new addition to the 'line-up' this time, a Tubes dancer, who appeared at regular intervals in various states of dress/undress and who also enables Don't Touch Me There and Prime Time to be added to the set list. She proved very popular ... amongst the males in attendance anyway and one or two of the group.

I won't list all the songs but it was great to hear Poland Whole/Madam I'm Adam. It was good to see Smoke (la vie en fumer) performed live again, first time I've seen them do that for some years. As they turned it up another gear, in came half of The Completions Backwards Principle with Mr. Hate and Sushi Girl getting great receptions. They added a couple of excellent covers to the set, Tom Jones' It's Not Unusual guaranteed to get 100% participation.

The only downside of the evening was that the gig had a 10pm curfew for a student disco to start afterwards. After two and a quarter hours, the boys weren't ready to stop and had to cut a couple of songs. It did however mean they produced a blistering finish to fit in all the anthems at the end, White Punks on Dope still hits you from the opening chord, Fee as brilliant as ever as Quay Lude turned Sherlock Holmes and ably assisted by his "nurse".

It's just genius, puts you on such a buzz and high. As usual, more than a few were watching their first Tubes gig and were completely blown away. Met Fee, Roger and Gary afterwards and, being a Welshman, I was chuffed to hear them remark how much they're looking forward to playing Wales. Fee even remebered the last time it happened - the Remote Control tour - and, safe to say, we're in for a special time.

Roll on The Tubes in Cardiff on December 1. Can't wait!!